HYDERABAD — Prime Minister Narendra Modi on May 10, 2026, called on Indians to adopt wartime-style austerity measures, including working from home, cutting fuel and gold consumption, reducing fertiliser use and limiting overseas travel, to conserve fuel and foreign exchange during the United States-Israeli war on Iran. Modi asked citizens to embrace restrictions resembling those imposed during the coronavirus crisis.

"In the current situation, we must place great emphasis on saving foreign exchange," Modi said. He urged Indians to revive the work-from-home model used during the COVID-19 pandemic, shift physical gatherings to online meetings, and rely on public transport and carpooling to cut fuel use. He also called on families to reduce cooking oil consumption, avoid buying gold, postpone nonessential overseas travel for at least a year, and asked farmers to cut fertiliser use by as much as half.

"Patriotism is not only about the willingness to sacrifice one's life on the border. In these times, it is about living responsibly and fulfilling our duties to the nation in our daily lives," Modi said.

The war on Iran began on February 28, 2026. Iranian attacks on oil and gas facilities in the Gulf during the early weeks of the conflict affected energy supplies, and since early March 2026 Iran has restricted passage through the Strait of Hormuz, allowing transit only by vessels from select countries that negotiate with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. In April 2026, the U.S. announced a naval blockade on ships entering or leaving Iranian ports.

A barrel of Brent crude was worth $72.87 on February 27, 2026. As of May 11, 2026, it traded at $105.45. Airlines have raised ticket prices as fuel costs rose; the average international airfare from the U.S. to all destinations was $1,101 in the last week of April 2026, a 16 percent increase from the same period a year earlier, according to Kayak.

India's foreign exchange reserves stood at $690.69 billion as of May 1, 2026, down $7.79 billion, or about 1.12 percent, from the end of March 2026, according to the Reserve Bank of India. The International Monetary Fund projected India's current account deficit will reach $84 billion in 2026.

India is the world's third largest oil importer after China and the U.S., importing crude oil worth $123 billion from April 2025 to March 2026. Indians imported gold worth $72 billion in the 2025-2026 fiscal year. About 30.9 million Indian nationals departed India in 2024, up from 27.9 million in 2023, according to the Bureau of Immigration. Nearly half of the world's traded urea and large volumes of other fertilisers are exported from Gulf countries through the Strait of Hormuz, and India imported about 10 million tonnes of urea last year, according to analysis from S&P Global.